A large and powerful hillfort which occupied a limestone promomtory overlooking the Clwyd lowlands. The site was established in the eighth-ninth century BCE with activity or occupation continuing through the Roman period and beyond. Excavations were carried out under the auspices of the Abergele Society from 1912-1922. From this time on quarrying consumed the promontory, fuelled by the voracious appetite of the Shotton steel works. Responding to this excavations took place from 1956 to 1964, 1965-9 and 1977-8, with the result that whilst the site is now totally destroyed it is one of the best known and published hillforts in Wales.

Sources: Willoughby Gardner & Savory 'Dinorben: a Hillfort Occupied in Early Iron Age & Roman Times',
National Museum of Wales (1964)
Savory 'Excavations at Dinorben, 1965-9', National Museum of Wales (1971)
Guilbert in Current Archaeology 65 (1979), 182-188
70 (1980), 226-8

John Wiles 01.05.07